Persephone Syndrome
by Midoriri
Summary: Out of nowhere, a dark god came and dragged Sayu to the Underworld. Slight AU, tiny OOCness; Winner of dn-contest, week 45:Mythology


_While the daughter of a goddess was picking flowers, a dark god appeared before her, and took her to the Underworld._

Sayu could feel her heart beating, which was the only way she knew she hadn't been killed and dragged to Hell. That and it was nothing like she had heard it would be. There was no torture. There was no screaming, except for a few angry shouts. But in Hell, any screams would come from sadistic glee, or from torture....  
Sayu, the daughter of someone of great power, was walking home, innocently. Out of nowhere, a dark god had appeared and forcibly taken her away, down to the Underworld. Oh, she had put up a fight, but the dark god was too strong, and what chance did a being of light have against a being of evil?  
The dark god seemed to be king in this domain. Everyone listened to the dark-clad man with the golden hair. Sayu vaguely thought of how weird it is, for a dark god to have light hair. The dark god, this Hades, was merciless and cruel, and she began to fear for her life.  
And yet the dark god hadn't paid much attention to her. One of his minions, a strange creature with bug-like green eyes had said she wouldn't be harmed if "everyone co-operates." Who was everyone?

The dark god was angry today. Things weren't going well, and he was throwing fire and thunder everywhere, startling his demons into hiding. Why was a god of the Underworld throwing fire and thunder? Those were powers that belonged to someone else.  
He got angry at her later, when she refused to eat anything offered to her. Sayu knew the story. The first Persephone had made the mistake of eating food the dark god had given her, and she had been trapped. Sayu wouldn't make that mistake. Sayu would starve to death before she ate food from the dark god.

"Why won't you eat anything?" the dark god asked her a few days later. She had lost a lot of weight, and the dark god noticed her bones poking out under her skin. "You'll die if you don't eat."  
She didn't care. She didn't want to be trapped. It was bad enough that she was stuck in the Underworld,bad enough to have the demons leering at her, bad enough to hear the dark god's anger, but she wouldn't be trapped forever. In death, she would leave this place, but if she ate anything here, she never would.  
"It's okay, no one will be mad if you eat something," said one of the demons, the one with the bug-eyes-no, protective coverings. Why did he wear those, to protect his eyes from the dark god? Had the dark god removed his eyes? Wait, what she she saying? "You want some?" he asked, holding out a sandwich. "You can eat it, I'll just make another one."  
She wouldn't eat it. She would not be like the first Persephone.

The good news was that this dark god hadn't taken her for his own lust. No, he had his eyes on a bigger prize. What that was, Sayu wasn't sure. But at least the dark god hasn't bothered her. And he kept his demons from doing that, too. The dark god had some dignity, at least.

She threw up that day, from lack of food. The dark god and his right-hand man had tried to coax more food into her system.  
"Eat this," the demon said, holding out noodles.  
No.  
"This?" Bread.  
"This?" Beer. Disgusting.  
"This, at least!" the dark god cried, shoving an unwrapped, half-eaten bar of chocolate in her face. The demon seemed surprised at the offer.  
But the second Persephone only shook her head, almost vomiting again.  
The dark god threw it at her head, making her fall down in her weakness. Then he lifted her by the hair, asking rhetorically what good a dead hostage was, and put the chocolate to her mouth. "I'm going to make you eat if I have to!"  
She gagged as it was put in her mouth, pulling her head away and spitting it out. No matter how many times the dark god tried to get her to take food, she would only refuse.  
Finally, the dark god got the message and left, growling angrily. The demon shook his head in sympathy and walked away. Both left the candy on the ground, as if saying she'd eat it later if she wanted to.

The dark god wasn't angry now. He was sad. She wondered why.  
The dark god noticed her staring. "Why won't you eat anything?" he demanded her, kneeling in front of her. "You'll die on us, and then what good will you be? And you're going home tomorrow anyway!"  
Sayu's eyes widened at the revelation. Like the one before her, she would go home. But unlike her predecessor, she wouldn't have to go back ever again. She'd won!  
Hours later, the dark god was still sad, still trying to get food in her stomach. She wouldn't take anything, no matter how many times eh threw up or fainted. Not when she was so close to freedom.

And now the dark god was even sadder than before. "I've seen girls at my school starve like this, on purpose," he told her, trying to scare her into eating. "They withered into nothingness and died. Do you want to die?"  
The stupid god. She would eat in her own realm, the one of light, of freedom, and of innocence. In her own home where there was no evil lurking in shadows.  
Then she noticed his face. It was so sad... "You never ate anything here," he muttered. "Do you think we liked seeing you try to die?"

Right in front of him, Sayu lifted the candy from earlier. Their eyes locked, and...  
She took a bite. Chewed. Swallowed.  
The dark god looked very pleased, almost insanely so.  
Sayu wanted to cry. Even though she was going home, now she would never truly leave.  
She was no different from Persephone, down to last detail.


End file.
